Café de l'Industrie — Restaurant in Paris

Rude staff member ruined an otherwise nice meal AND did not provide change. Assuming a tip? We came for lunch, as visiting for the weekend, and I was keen on French cuisine. The place was busy as we were seated, we could see and appreciate this. After a while, we indicated that we were keen to order by catching the eye of waitress and nodding. A long time passed where the waiter passed by a number of times, serving meals, filling other customers’ water bottles etc. and my partner caught her eye again to indicate we were ready to order, when she brusquely snapped something along the lines of “you need to learn to wait, it is busy”. I was completely mortified for my partner who had not been rude or pushy in the slightest. It felt like we were being scolded by the teacher in front of the class. I asked whether he wanted to go elsewhere, but he knew I was keen on dining here, so even though he’d been treated so rudely we decided to try and ignore the unpleasantness and stay for the meal. As much as we tried, we couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and awkward every time the waiter came around. I felt a mixture of apologetic and indignant, even though we hadn’t done anything wrong, and no person in any context should be so needlessly rude. The food was fine, but honestly was soured by the experience at the beginning. At the end, our bill came to 46euro, and we put a 50euro note with the bill. Had the service been good, we would have been more than happy to leave the change, but this wasn’t the case. My partner, and then I, used the restroom as we waited for the change, which simply did not come. We were not interested in leaving a tip, as one can imagine, but we were not given the option and the waiter made the decision for us, I suppose. This is in stark contrast to everywhere else we dined in Paris, where we have paid for bills in restaurants or bars and less than 1€ in change has been returned, even when we indicated it was not necessary. A completely pathetic show of service by the waiter in question. I’m sure all others were fine and lovely. Food was lovely but hard to judge objectively....

A tourist trap !

The place used to be great back in 2015, now the staff has to compensate by friendliness the jokes that are served in "Les assiettes" and their prices.

This place was clearly ruined by its success...

The vinaigrette served over my poireaux was certainly industrial... and we all know that there is nothing more easy when talking about French cuisine to do than this holly sauce: olive oil, vinegar, mustard and a fork to mix that... well, I knew, The Café de l'Industrie ins't the Ritz so I didn't commented at that point.

The surprise was the tartare that the client have to prepare themselves with tabasco, perins... Hell... like if it was a bloody Mary ?!! What about the cut of the meat ( not by knife by by machine ) and about the other ingredients just set on the dish? In other words, if the seasoning isn't good... it will be your fault plus accompagné by an over baked gratin dauphinois instead of FRENCH fries or toasted bread, I mean, It's like trying to set a chess play in between a horse for the Oural region and a dolphin.

For the tarte tatin served with cream instead of any Chantilly or vanilla ice cream... It's an old debate but for sure, crème fraîche isn't the answer.

At the moment to leave and having understood that I had a dinner in a cafeteria with a nice deco and not a restaurant I checked out the ceiling to see if there was a was to glue the whipped cream on it ( yes, it's a tradition to stick food on ceilings of bad restaurant )... And I finally felt that the world isn't going on the wrong way as I could see that predecessors had already mark the territory before me with papier maché and chewing gums.

PS: Wine was good, certainly because not home made.

Hope...

Went to Cafe de L'Industrie with some friends who are locals, and regulars. I can see what they like about the place - buzzing atmosphere, cool decor, cheap and cheerful menu. Sadly the service was not so cheerful - surly waitress was less than charming from the start - although the place was packed so we went with it. But after she failed to bring us the water we had asked for five times, leaving two of us at the table with nothing to drink for almost 30 mins, I decided to take matters into my own hands. When I spied a jug full of cold water sitting on service stand for the waitresses to serve from I figured I'd save her a trip and grab two glasses of water to relieve our thirst. To my surprise the waitress shouted at me that I should put that down immediately or "she would get into trouble"! I mentioned our lack of hydration and she told me that it was "a busy night and she'd quite like a glass of water too". This was a fair point - it was so hot inside that the walls were dripping with condensation - but I did think it unfair given she was working and I was paying for my food (why not serve yourself one when you serve customers...?). When I mentioned as much I was informed that "given the prices you are paying, you shouldn't expect all that much"!

A most enlightening evening in Paris - a city where I am generally prepared to accept snide comments and smarmy waiters when the food is above par, but to be honest this down at heel local doesn't serve mind-blowing food so I'm not sure what the...